


Wanders Through Time

by Estirose



Category: Kamen Rider Den-O
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-28
Updated: 2010-08-29
Packaged: 2017-10-11 07:15:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 3,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/109845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/pseuds/Estirose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sakurai Yuuto has a reason for wandering. 20 fics of ~200 words each.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Forgotten, for Safety's Sake

He'd given up who he was, given up who he would be, given up everything, forsaken love and life and everything to save the world.

To save his fiance, and his child.

His potential brother-in-law had forgotten the child; the cards were powerful enough to block even a Singularity Point's memories, thank goodness. Whatever Ryoutarou remembered, existed. What he forgot, disappeared. Airi's memories were wiped too, even though she didn't have Ryoutarou's power; between the two of them, the child was not coming back. At least until it was safe, until there was a way to make Airi remember, or Ryoutarou.

Until then, he'd slip through time, drawing the Imagin away from his family, away from Airi and their potential child, away from Ryoutarou so that he couldn't remember.

He was limited only by his memories, though his younger self would burn those up. He'd be forgotten by everybody just as he'd been forgotten by Airi, hopefully forgotten by Ryoutarou. Soon, he'd be alone, wandering time, forgotten by all he cared about.

But he'd protect them, even if they forgot who he was. He'd protect them.


	2. Too cruel fate

It was fate, Sakurai believed, that brought the ZeroLiner into his and Airi's lives. Brought him the ability to fight as Zeronos, gave him the terrible knowledge that his child was special. Gave him the knowledge that his future brother-in-law was special too.

He and Airi both had ancestors that were Singularity Points. Ryoutarou had gotten the full dose of those genes, and he knew from what he could access that his child - possibly any children - with Airi would be a Singularity point like their uncle.

ZeroLiner had only come to them because it knew - something in it knew - that their future was in danger. Their child was in danger, because of that Singularity Point status he or she shared with Ryoutarou. It was a distinct cruelty that his child that he or she would be hunted because of what they were, because of something that they might not ever really know about. Singularity Points were immune to changes in time - and how often did that come up?

So, he and Airi would protect their child, protect that precious gift his child would share with Ryoutarou, because he had to. It was a too cruel fate otherwise.


	3. Bleed

Sakurai Yuuto coughed as he lost his transformation, gritting his teeth in pain. Kai and the others were too close behind him, too near to really be safe in the state he was in, but he didn't really have a choice in the matter.

"Yuuto! Yuuto! Are you okay?" The Imagin his older self had named Deneb had gone to physical form, alarmed by his sudden shift. Yuuto had to wonder what had prompted his older self to bond with the Imagin, and then reminded himself that being an Imagin's host wasn't something humans had a choice about; it was either make a wish and hope that it wasn't too damaging to one's personal timeline, or keep them inside and hope it didn't interpret one's simplest words as a wish. His older self had made a wish to Deneb, and Yuuto was stuck with him.

At least he didn't bleed sand everywhere like some Imagin hosts did; it was annoying, messy, and got everywhere.

"I'm fine," he snapped, just as Deneb helped him up. "Let's get out of here."

"All right!" Deneb proclaimed, and they both stumbled through the alley.


	4. No Time (To Say Goodbye)

There was no time to say goodbye.

He was fighting Kai, trying to keep him from blasting the entire timeline apart. It wasn't like Airi could remember anyway; his card had wiped her memory and hopefully Ryoutarou's. It should have, though he never wanted to do that ever again. Forcing the overload of power needed to affect Ryoutarou had made him queasy, right in the middle of things.

But when Ryoutarou subconsciously reestablished the timeline, everything should be as he and Airi had planned.

Sakurai had wanted to have more time with his fiancee, wanted to say a proper goodbye before everything had happened. But Airi had told him of her trip on a train, of the younger him, had begun to say something about Ryoutarou before they were interrupted by Kai.

And then he'd used his card, and she'd forgotten. She'd forgotten him.

Now he had to fight, and fight, and hope he'd survive to flee into time, Kai and his goons chasing him, his younger self fighting against Kai in the present and the past.

It had hurt, not being able to say goodbye. "Love you," he whispered once more to Airi.


	5. The Fools That Wait

Every time Yuuto came to the Milk Dipper to see Airi, his fiancee-to-be, he wanted to growl. And there was no reason to. She had no clue who he was, had no idea that the young man that was sometimes her brother's friend, who didn't like her coffee, was anything other than that.

Still, he watched the fools that tried to attract her, tried to get her attention. There was something in her that prevented her from noticing them; partly her own nature, and partly because, deep inside, she had to know that it was wrong.

That he - the mysterious future him - would come back to her.

Someday, things would be right. She would remember who he was, and the future him would step out of time, and everything would be as it should have been. They would be together once more, they'd have the baby, and everything would be all right with the world.

Then all these fools would be gone, the threat of infidelity with them, back away from where they shouldn't be, leave them alone. Because they would be back together some day.

He swore to everything that it would happen.


	6. Bitter To Sweet

She'd made the coffee too bitter the first time he'd met her, and he'd commented on it. She'd protested that he hadn't taken the time to enjoy the rich flavor of the coffee, to look past the bitterness and enjoy the taste.

And so he'd done that, enjoyed it.

The coffee was bitter, true, but Airi knew her stuff and her coffee beans. She could coax flavor out of them that he'd never tasted, and taught him to appreciate the same. And somewhere along there, he'd talked to her, and she'd talked to him, and suddenly he was dating Nogami Airi.

He'd had plenty of competition, but Airi loved the stars as well, so the two of them had spent plenty of time together. He fostered that interest even more, helped her find books, fell in love with her again. She was a delightful woman with an equally delightful little brother.

Sakurai had wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and found that she wanted the same. So, they made plans to marry, plans to make a family.

It was too bad that it all went wrong.


	7. No Choice But To Lie

The lie was necessary. That truth burned in his soul, kept him from telling Nogami everything about the whole mission. He knew, if only from his future self, that Nogami had to remain ignorant. He had to remain ignorant to his future kin, had to remain ignorant of his older self's true mission. Right now, Nogami knew that his older self had fled into time, taking the pocketwatch with him, luring the Imagin.

But he didn't know why. And unless it turned out that Yuuto had no choice, he would not, could not know why.

So Yuuto lied and taunted and annoyed his future brother-in-law, hoping against hope that the other man would never ask, never wonder why the future self was out there roaming time instead of being with Airi. He would do everything he had to do if it kept his future wife, his future child safe.

Nogami Ryoutarou was starting to question, though, starting to wonder what was wrong, what had happened, why he didn't remember certain things and what those certain things were. So Yuuto lied, and lied, and lied some more, and hoped to hell that Nogami would believe him.


	8. Making Plans, Staying Alive

"There's nothing to be afraid of," Airi said, as if speaking to a recalitrant child. He could see Ryoutarou grinning, and he couldn't help but grin back. With Airi and Ryoutarou, he felt truly at home, part of their family.

But still, even he had his doubts that Airi could beat out the coffee chains that were starting to appear. Airi's place was small, charming, known for its coffee and its astronomy books. But still, Airi made her coffee herself, didn't use an automatic brewer. People came to the Milk Dipper because of the nature of her coffee, but it did take her a while to brew it.

It was a good thing, Sakurai Yuuto reflected, that there were plenty of books to read while one waited.

He was her book adviser for when she could afford new books for the cafe, or when he felt there was a book that they had to get. He hoped to be picking up books more often; he and Airi had plans for a series of lectures, delivered by him, while she made coffee. Maybe also trips to see the stars.

Together, they would keep the Milk Dipper running.


	9. Keeping the Child Unreal

Yuuto stood in the little dusty storeroom where Airi had been held captive. The woman herself stood there, caught between a falsehood, a faint memory, and the truth, a truth that Yuuto himself couldn't give her.

Though he wanted to. Oh, he so wanted to. Tell her of the child they'd have together, someday, of the fact that the only reason it wasn't there was because he'd had her little brother, the little brother out there fighting against the Imagin, forget.

But every time he did, he remembered what his future self had told him, what Deneb had too. That she couldn't remember, because if she remembered Ryoutarou would remember. And if Ryoutarou remembered, their child would no longer be a dream, a product of their collective imagination.

Their child would be real.

So he let her be, went into battle, made her forget. The cards worked on her even better than they did on her brother. Once the card was gone, her memory was gone too.

And she'd have forgotten Sakurai Yuuto and his love for her once more. A small price to pay for keeping her child safe.

A small price indeed.


	10. Last Meal

Deneb was gone. He should have expected it, that his own Imagin would disappear when the others did, banished to the future that would never be.

If somebody had asked him before if he would miss Deneb when it was all over, he'd snort. Deneb was an interfereing busybody who thought that Yuuto couldn't manage his own money and was distressed over Yuuto's hatred of shiitake.

But where the bond between human and Imagin had been, there was now empty space. Yuuto ran to the ZeroLiner, seeking comfort in the place closest to what he could call home, for no reason other than the irrational hope that he'd find Deneb there.

Deneb wasn't. But a last meal was, one that had shiitake in it. Deneb's last note asked him to eat the shiitake.

So he did. Because Deneb had made the meal for him, knowing he'd be hungry when he got home. Never mind that Deneb would never make a meal for him again.

"Yuuto, did you eat the shiitake?" came a welcome voice, and Yuuto launched into the Imagin, not wanting to have him disappear again.

Thankfully, most thankfully, he didn't.


	11. Ways of Killing

The creature appeared before him, back to him, trying to find him in the particular time he'd traveled to, trying to eliminate him. It looked like a particularly ugly scorpion, somebody's subconscious image of one, at least. That's how the Imagin got their forms, after all, and he'd seen some rather bizarre ones. Heck, even Deneb wasn't particularly inconspicuous, though he looked a lot better than Sakurai thought anything out of his imagination might be.

He wondered if the creature was poisonous, if that was how it intended to kill him. Of course, simple blasts or a claw might do, or that big stinger might dispense too much electricity for his body to handle. Sakurai had seen his death in the dozens of creatures sent to look for him; seen claws, swords, all sorts of bladed weapons. Blasters as well, guns, anything that could kill a human being, the Imagin had it.

Fortunately, he had good luck; he was still around, still being the decoy, still saving Airi. Ryoutarou and his younger self would take care of the rest, kill the Imagin, save the world.

Off he walked, heading for another time, another place. Again.


	12. Gainfully Employed

Gainfully Employed  
by Estirose  
c 2008

"You're pregnant?" Sakurai Yuuto asked incredulously. The two of them had moved from table to counter to bedroom over their relationship; he'd never dreamed he'd be a father. It was perhaps a good thing that they'd announced their engagement.

In a matter of months, they'd be parents. They'd be married by then, the baby would be a Sakurai, not a Nogami. He'd take care of the baby, soothe them when they cried, let Airi do what she did best.

After all, she was more gainfully employed than he was, he was embarrassed to admit.

Sure, he had a small amount of income, an inheritance plus some financially useful odd jobs. But he was poor and he knew it, just making enough for a tiny apartment and enough to eat.

"Of course I am," Airi said, smiling. Of course, what could go wrong? Airi would be a good mother, he would be a good father, and Ryoutarou would make a good uncle. Between them, they'd manage.

"Of course you are," he repeated. "Airi... congratulations."

She smiled even more, that wonderful smile of hers. "Isn't it great?"

Sakurai Yuuto kissed her in agreement.


	13. The Scar Nobody Sees

Yuuto had a tiny raised scar from the death that had never happened. As he'd told Nogami, the cards brought him back, though even then, he'd paid the price. A small scar, hidden by his hair, the result of shrapnel from the car exploding. It shouldn't have been there, but time was a funny thing. Maybe he thought he should have a scar there, thus he did.

Time was memory and memory was time, after all. The cards caught him in his moment of death, restored him from there, as if he'd made a save point in a game. This version of him had been hurt, but not killed, according to his memories. Suffered only minor damage, gotten very lucky. His instructor had said that the telescope had been his good-luck charm.

He'd kept it ever since, only realizing the importance when Deneb had come to him with his cards. Realizing that he'd been saved, not knowing how or why until Deneb had explained it to him.

Yuuto fingered the scar on his neck, caught in the memory of the death that hadn't quite happened, and swore vengeance on Kai once more.


	14. More Important Than Money

The doors of the Milk Dipper slammed open as the man stalked out. Sakurai Yuuto vaguely recognized him - someone who had been interested in Airi, some kind of financial guy. Airi disliked him, she'd confided, because he cared more for money than anything else. Of course, money was always useful, but his and Airi's philosophy was that love was more important than money.

The man glared at Sakurai as he walked off. Sakurai himself entered the Milk Dipper with some trepidation. Airi was a loving soul, hard to anger and easy to forgive, but it was sometimes better to let her finish losing her temper before approaching her.

She was frowning when he came in, but it quickly turned to a smile. "Yuuto! Come in." The Milk Dipper was deserted; he'd deliberately timed things so that he came in when things were slow.

"Are you all right?" he asked. "I saw... whoever that was... leaving."

"Fujishiro Yuyo," she supplied. "I'm fine. He doesn't understand why I don't love him."

Sakurai nodded, letting her lean into his arms. "Sometimes, they just don't." He was lucky; she loved him.

"No, they don't," she agreed.


	15. Maybe Alone

Yuuto was never alone. He had Deneb constantly trying to help him - or at least make him eat Shiitake - and now he had Nogami, well-meaning do-gooder that would someday be his brother in law. Deneb and Nogami got along just great. It occured to him that Deneb and Nogami would have made excellent partners, but Deneb was bonded to him, and nothing would ever change that.

Besides, he was ten years in his own future; a time traveler from the past, having to learn new things, new history, new anything that would make him blend in a little, what little he had to. Deneb kept him company, advised him on what to do and what not to do, and Yuuto even took his advice sometimes, at least when it made sense.

Ten years in the future, he should have been married to Nogami Airi, been expecting a child, should have been celebrating. But instead, that him was gone, and he had taken that man's place. Watched her smile, knew she'd forgotten. Forgotten the him of this time, her baby, her engagement. Forgotten him. He had to admit that it stung.

Maybe he was alone, after all.


	16. Breaking Time

One could say, given the true nature of time, that what he and Airi were proposing to do would break it. Sakurai Yuuto grinned at that thought. It wasn't like they were breaking it, exactly. It was more like they were changing it around a bit, like one would rearrange things to hide something one didn't want found. That this involved erasing memories to alter time made it a bit different than hiding a spouse or sibling's present, harder to do, but still the same principle.

It wasn't like he and Airi wanted to do what they had to do, but they were doing it anyway. At least he could smile a bit at the grimness of the situation, the fact that they might be rearranging time to save somebody's life.

He and Airi might be amateurs, but it really wasn't that complex. It reminded him of that scene in the American movie "Men in Black" where the agency had to erase a whole lot of memories, and here he only had to erase two.

Maybe he was breaking time, but broken things could heal. Broken memories could be returned. Only time would tell.


	17. Make Him Understand

Airi clasped her hands over her abdomen as they both contemplated what they'd planned. She knew what had to be done, and he knew what had to be done, but it was a loss for both of them, temporary if they could pull it off, but if they couldn't... well, Sakurai hoped they'd pulled it off.

Ryoutarou knew something was going on with his sister. Sakurai didn't know if he knew the specifics, but him knowing was dangerous. It would have been better if Ryoutarou had not known; the first time an Imagin went into the past, Ryoutarou's memories would restore the world... but he could hardly restore what he didn't know about.

Airi had agreed that she couldn't remember either. Sakurai would, but his cards knocked him out of the timestream, didn't allow him to be used to remake the world.

"We should tell him, and then we should do it," she said finally, looking up at him. "If he knows, maybe he'll understand."

"Maybe," Sakurai allowed. "I hope so."

It was too much to hope for, but he had to follow Airi's wishes. And maybe Ryoutarou would understand.


	18. Been Chosen

Airi had been kidnapped. Not because Kai had a clue to what he was looking for, but because some idiot liked her too much. The regulars at the Milk Dipper had little but his name and the fact that his eyes were completely black; a sure sign of an Imagin, and perhaps one of the same pair that had beaten up the youngest of Nogami's Imagin.

If so, it sounded like he'd wanted Airi for himself, and the Imagin were all too happy to grant it. Kidnapping someone was one of the easiest ways to grant a wish. Of all of Airi's suitors, this was the most dangerous one.

Airi had too many suitors, and it was cold comfort that she'd chosen the future him in the end. His heart sometimes ached, wishing that he could love and be loved like his future self would be.

He forced himself out of that thought, back to the battle to come. "Yuuto, do you intend to go?" Deneb asked.

"I have to, Nogami can't transform!" he exclaimed, knowing he alone could fight.

He ceded control of his body to Deneb, thinking of battle tactics as he went.


	19. Reasonings

"Why don't you tell Nogami? This is his family, too," Deneb asked softly as they traveled aboard ZeroLiner. Maybe he hoped to convince Yuuto that it was a good idea, this shedding of secrets. But it wasn't time. Maybe it would never be time.

"Because I said I wouldn't!" He didn't need to add the obvious, or at least he hoped not. Deneb knew it as much as he did.

Deneb was in favor of Nogami knowing at least part of the truth, of why his older version traveled in time. But that could lead to other things that were better left unrevealed. Like why he was out there. Why Airi couldn't afford to be noticed. Why Nogami couldn't be allowed to remember.

It wasn't like it hadn't taken him forever to acknowledge that he was the same Sakurai Yuuto, and that was only because Airi had been kidnapped. Had he thought more, he wouldn't have said anything, but Airi was still his fiancee and he couldn't keep that fact inside any longer.

He was sure Nogami had secrets too. But what he didn't know wouldn't kill him.


	20. Having to Return in Time

Deneb, somehow, found ways to keep in touch with Ryoutarou. His Imagin had told him that Airi remembered - at least a little bit, at least his name. But there was a pang of sadness apparently every time she said it, as if she remembered the tragedies that had happened in their lives, the fact that the older Sakurai no longer existed. Yuuto had wiped that him out of existence with the last card.

Now he was due back to his own past time, having to adjust to coming back from a time more advanced than his own. He almost preferred to be from no time at all, anchored to no time at all, but Deneb had pointed out that normal humans couldn't stay there forever; he'd have to return to the time he'd come from eventually, now the crisis was over.

Besides, someday he had to become the man that Airi loved once again. It might take a while - his daughter Hana would be born a decade or so late, the consequence of fiddling around in the timeline - but he would have his family.

And in the meantime, he had Deneb. And his memories. And someday, Airi.


End file.
